Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Rainy Daze

We are basically ready to open tomorrow, with one exception.... the set has yet to arrive from Wisconsin. The trunk that I sent Fedex is here and ready but the other two large set cases, shipped by another company, are not. It will be nice to actually have the set for the opening night show. Why is it that even when you have a couple of extra days to set up it still becomes a rush to the opening?John has taken the time to re-patch the electricals. He certainly could have made the show work just fine the way they were set up, but is making it much easier for the next lighting designer to figure out which light is on what circuit. He is that kind of a guy. I assume it is like leaving the secret treasure map for the next pirate. This is one of the first times I have seen him program the show basically starting from scratch with our lighting plot. I have a layman's knowledge of a sound board, but when it comes to lighting... it looks to me like some console out of a sifi movie. Like anyone who knows his stuff John tried to give me the birds eye of the workings. "This is the master and the sub master is here, this is the intensity and this is the length of time, they all go into that cue and..." I was lost immediately. So glad he is up in the booth doing his thing.This is cabaret theatre which is a hybrid between a black box and a night club. I think it will have the best elements of both. There is a back stage and cross over space which is not always available in black box theaters. It is an intimate theatre and that is a very good thing for my show. John has the talent to make it pop with the lighting design and if we ever get the set it will be great.John and I are living in a house in Irondequiot. It has an exercise room in the basement, televisions in each of the four bedrooms and three baths. I has a 3/4 grand piano in the living room and pretty solid wifi. And the theatre has given us each a vehicle to drive. Except for the location this is exactly the treatment we would get at Harrahs, Reno. They also give the star a house by the lake and a personal car to drive back and forth. I was never the headliner for that room but my friend Harry was and I stayed at the star house several nights when he was there. So it is all just like that except this is Lake Ontario and not Lake Tahoe, and if I go over my stage time there will be no thick necks knocking on my door. I think the trade off in this case is acceptable.As you were,Jay